Al Ahly are set to face Tunisia's Esperance on Saturday at Hammadi Agrebi Olympic Stadium in the first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-finals.
Ahead of today's encounter, Al Ahly and Esperance have met on 20 occasions.
We faced the Tunisian giants on 18 occasions in the CAF Champions League, while we met twice in the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Red Eagles managed to come out victorious in eight games, while we lost on four occasions and were held to draw in eight matches.
The Red Eagles scored 22 goals against Esperance. Walid Soliman, our veteran, is the top scorer of the contest with three goals.
Al Ahly conceded 15 goals and managed to keep 8 clean sheets against Esperance, who also have the same number of clean sheets.
The Red Eagles had an impressive unbeaten run against the Tunisian team that lasted for 10 games. We managed to defeat them on six occasions and we were held to draw in four matches between 2011 and 2018.
We met Esperance for the first time in the CAF Champions League round of 16 in the 1990 campaign.
Both games ended in a goalless draw, but Esperance reached the quarter-finals after winning the second leg 4-2 on penalties.
The second encounter was in the 2001 CAF Champions League semi-finals. The first leg ended in a goalless draw in Cairo, but the Red Eagles reached the final after securing a 1-1 draw at Radès Stadium thanks to a goal from Sayed Abdelhafiz, our director of football in today's game.
Following a streak of draws that lasted for four games, we secured a 3-0 victory over Esperance at home in the 2007 CAF Champions League group stage. However, Esperance managed to achieve a 1-0 win in the away game.
We faced each other again in the 2010 CAF Champions League semi-finals. The Red Eagles won the first leg 2-1, but we lost the second leg 1-0.
We met again in 2011 in the group stage, where we lost the first game 1-0 and were held to a 1-1 draw in the second match.
Al Ahly and Esperance reached the CAF Champions League final in 2012. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw in Cairo, but the Red Eagles sealed a 2-1 victory in the second leg in Tunisia and clinched our seventh African title.
In 2015, both teams met again in the CAF Confederation Cup at the group stage and the Red Eagles won both games.
Two years later, we met in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. After being held to a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Al Ahly sealed a 2-1 victory in the second leg to reach the semis.
Finally, we faced the Tunisian team in 2018 in the group stage and also in the final. During this campaign, the Red Eagles came out victorious in three matches, while we lost the second leg of the competition's final.
